Ace Raymond Rizzo

Welcome to the world and happy birthday!! Macie's cousin, Ace Raymond Rizzo arrived today at a whopping 8 lbs. 2 oz and lots of hair!! We are so excited for Lindsay and Ray and can't wait to see him!! 

Macie Grace Richards

Macie is scheduled to arrive Tuesday, October 27th by induction. Unless Allie's blood pressures keep going up or lab results come back worse then it will be sooner. We are so thankful for all the support at this time! Our family and friends are the best and we couldn't have gotten through this without you! 

even newer update

if next week when I get to 36 weeks if the preclampsia is under control still I can wait until 37 weeks to deliver and at that point we will not need to repeat the amnio. So lets see how the next week plays out as long as I don't get worse! Macie Grace will be here by the end of October!!

Hospital Update

So we have a lot more information that has been unraveling all week long. It has been a very rough week but luckily with great family and friends we are managing to get by. When we came for the NST on Monday we thought it was going to be a normal 30-60 minute monitor and then we would leave but it didn't turn out that way. The baby had dips in her heart rate and they couldn't tell if the monitor was picking up my heart rate at time or if her heart rate was dropping at times. In addition to that I was having more contractions and the high blood pressure. They decided they wanted to monitor me for the 23 hour observation to see would would unfold. During this time they also decided to do a 24 hour urine collection to see if they can find the protein in my urine to be able to diagnose preclampsia. The good news was the baby was fine and she was moving so much sometimes the monitor would pick up my heart rate instead of hers and make it look like dips. The bad news was tha tprotein was found in my urine so the preclampsia is effecting my kidneys. With the combination of the pre term labor and preclampsia they put and IV in me and started magnesium sulfate. Magnesium sulfate is used for high blood pressure so you don't have seizures and it is also used for pre term labor so it was like a two for one in my case. However, the side effects are brutal. For the first 30 minutes I was on a very high does to stop my labor and although it makes you feel like you have the flu, my body had a even crazier reaction. Not only did it drop my blood pressure a little....it dropped dramatically and I almost passed out- it was a very scary feeling and the nurse had to go get someone to help her. On top of that, I felt nauseous, hot flashes, tightness in my chest and all the other lovely side effects this has on people. I only had 3 minutes left of the level 3 so obviously she stopped it there and took me down to a level two dose.
I was on the magnesium for almost 48 hours adn then I was able to come off. My doctor said I may be able to go home on strict bed rest and come in twice a week for blood work to make sure the preclampsia wasn't getting worse but I would have to be on STRICT bed rest at home and only getting up to go to the bathroom. She said first I need to be examined by the perinatologist after the magnesium was totally out of my system to see how my body was without the medicine. Later that day a NICU doctor came to talk to me about 34 and 35 week old babies who are born. He said it is not even a question of survival at this time, she will be fine, but we need to unerstand she could be in the NICU for a couple of weeks. At 34 weeks, 85% of babies must go to the NICU because of either lung immaturity or feeding issues because their sucking and swallowing reflexes are mostly not fully developed- at 35 weeks this rate drops dramatically. It was reassurring to here all this information from him, because if she is born early, she WILL be okay. In the meantime, I went for another ultra sound to try to get measurments of the baby to see approximately how big she was as of now. It was an awesome ultra sound and she was measuring 5 lbs 15 oz! So she is a big girl :) He was also coming up with the due date of November 13th which isn't probably accurate it just means she is big for her gestational age, but it is closer to the date of the 18th than the 24th that some doctors are still using.
When the perinatologist came back later my reflexes were brisk and still I had high blood presssure so he said I would not be going home and it was safer for me to stay here and be monitored. There are 4 perinatologists here at the hospital and they are here for emergencies so it would be best to be surrounded by them at this time. Since the way she measured and looking back at my file he also thought I was more like 35 weeks than 34 weeks so he decided we could do an amnio to see if her lungs were mature enough to be delivered. So far my case of preclampsia has not gotten worse- if it does, we will need to deliver no matter what, but since it hasn't we have some time. The test came back as immature.
So now I got two injections of steroids n hopes that that will help her lungs develop and we will reassess the fluid in a week. If they are mature at that time, we will move towards delivery. See, the only way to cure preclampsia is for the baby to be delivered. At this time it is mildly effecting my kidneys and it seems to be effecting my central nervous system and we dont want it to get worse or start effecting my liver either. So every 48 hours I have blood drawn to see where my levels are at. So right now all we can do is pray that this next week, my levels are okay so we do not have to do an emergency delivery and we can make sure her lungs are developed and mature enough.
So I think this coming Thursday is when we reassess and if the lungs are mature we may have a baby- if not, hopefully the disease is undercontrol and we can wait another week. Each day is critical for keeping her in to grow. We have complete faith in God and we know he has a plan. We may not know what is plan is yet, but we do know we are taken care of and all we can have at this time is love, faith, and hope. Thank you for your prayers and as hard as it is we will continue to remain optimistic for Macie girl! She is strong and will make it- she looks great on all ultrasounds and NSTs so she is safe. Now if we can just work on this preclampsia.
Stay positive for us!

xoxo,
Allie, Jeremy, & Macie

First Hospital stay

I am writing this from the hospital bed- at least I have a lap top to keep me busy. Jeremy and I came for the NST yesterday and never left. The wanted to monitor the baby for 24 hours so we were admitted to stay over night. We will keep everyone posted on what's happening but we don't have a lot of information at this time. 

Bed Rest

Well the first NST showed I was having contractions 2 minutes apart and my blood pressure wasn't going down with resting. It was pretty high....in the 140's and over 80's. After more blood tests and labs and of course another shot of terbutaline, my doctor put me on bed rest. So yesterday I went to work to get all my sub plans ready and prepare my kids for a long term sub. Depending on when she comes, I will probably go back to work after winter break which would be January 4th. They only bad thing is this gives me less time with her and I am even going to get docked some of my pay since I only have 8 weeks in sick leave. As Jeremy said, it's in God's hands and he will provide. We just want our baby to be ready and as healthy as can be before she makes her big entrance into this world. So here's to bed rest! :)

We have our co-ed baby shower tonight so we are really looking forward to gathering with friends and having some fun- of course my fun will be via the couch! Our next NST is scheduled for Monday. We will keep everyone posted. 

Hope all is well,

Allie

Doctor's Appointment

Allie's blood pressure has consistently been staying borderline high. We are now going to go to the hospital biweekly for NSTs (non stress tests) this will monitor the baby and Allie's blood pressure. Everything else looks great and the good news is there is no sugar or protein in her urine. We will keep you all updated!

Baby Shower

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Macie! It was so good to see you all and we appreciate all the nice things! Thank you to Breanna for lending out her beautiful house and to Allie's mom and Tracy as well for planning! Debbie & Margo- thank you for helping with food! :) Everything was beautiful!!

This week has been a busy one! We got maternity pictures done and you can see a sneak peak at:  http://www.loraleiphoto.com/  just scroll down to where it says little sun devil :)

On Wednesday night we were back at the hospital - we first went in for decreased fetal movement. She always moves a lot around 9pm and we could not get her to move- we tried everything. Turns out Allie was having contractions and didn't even know it....again! After some monitoring and a shot of terbutaline to get them to stop we were able to come home. Still no bed rest since the contractions are not making her dilate. 

Yesterday, Allie had a work baby shower. It is amazing to have such a wonderful group of co-workers. Everything was so cute and we got a good start on what little Macie needs. Today is the family shower put on by Allie's mom, Cindy and her friend Breanna. 

Jeremy's been working hard during this football season. He has just a few games left and hopefully they can pull off some victories. He is really enjoying coaching and Macie is enjoying listening to her daddy's games. 

Good News!

At the doctor's today, everything went well! Blood pressure looks good and everything else! We also learned that girls' lungs develop faster than boys so that works in our favor incase she does come early. She is measuring 33 weeks instead of 32 so she is a big girl! :) 

Newest Update

We wanted to update you all about what the doctor is saying. Allie is not yet on bed rest but if her blood pressure keeps going up she may be. Right now she is going to continue to keep track of it twice a day. The doctor wants to see her once a week starting now to keep an eye on everything. She is on terbutaline for the contractions as needed. They are worried she may be developing toxemia which effects the liver- so far all lab tests came back fine but we need to keep an eye on it. The doctor told her she's not going to make it.....Allie asked without bed rest or without going into labor?? And she said both. We need to make it at least another month to make sure this little girl is as healthy as possible. 

Jeremy made it through Daddy Boot Camp this past week. :) This week we have an infant CPR class and a birthing class. We are very excited to be learning new things to benefit Macie! :)

Doctor update

After being in the hospital twice last week for high blood pressure, contractions, etc. the doctor's appointment went well today. Blood pressure was only 110/70. As long as it stays down, Allie can remain at work. She will be checking her blood pressure twice a day with the school nurse. 

Macie Grace Richards

Our first hospital visit

On Tuesday Allie went in to the hospital for decreased fetal movement. They hooked her up to a fetal monitor that measured the babies movements, heartbeat, contractions and Allie's blood pressure. It turns out that she was having contractions and is even dilated a little bit. She was given a shot of terbutaline- it stopped the contractions for about an hour and then they came back. Another shot was given and we now have a prescription for the pill form. The baby's movement is fine, we found out the placenta is anterior which means in the front and that is why we do not feel her move as much- the thick placenta is covering the fattest part of Macie's body and her head is already down. The amniotic fluid looked good and after numerous tests everything else was good. Allie does have high blood pressure due to stress so she needs to destress as much as possible. So far no bed rest and please pray there won't be any bed rest and little Macie will wait at least 6 more weeks before coming out! 

Grandpa Hagen's First Project

I wish I had a before picture of what the closet looked like- if you've been over lately- you know! :) Thanks to Allie's dad it looks much better and is ready to be filled with all the fun girly things and clothes. Every girl deserves a walk-in closet!! ;)

Glucose Test...

Came back in normal limits! Yay!!

Macie's Room

27 weeks down, 13 more to go!

27 weeks and counting! We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and Allie did the Gluclose test but will not know the results for a couple of days! Everything is looking good and on track! We have a lot of exciting things coming up for the month of September such as an Infant CPR class, Birthing Basics, Daddy Boot Camp and some others! We are also getting a 3D/4D ultra sound on September 13th~ very excited about this!!

The Nursery

We are in the process of getting the nursery all ready and decorated. We are doing the Lady Bug Paisley theme and the colors are pink, green, and cream. It will be really fun to see the nursery come to life over the next couple weeks! It is hard to believe our little one will be here in about 3 months! 

Jeremy already started coaching football yesterday and is so excited to coach Freshman football this school year. Hard to believe they are practicing before school even starts! He will be teaching in the morning at Shadow Mountain High School and in the afternoon over at Shea Middle School. It should be an interesting year, but he is stoked! His face lights up like a kid at Christmas when he starts to think about coaching! 

Allie is preparing for the new school year as well. Her school got new carpet and paint so everything is in boxes. It will be interesting to get all the things done before the kids come and try not to be over worked! 

School starts August 17th and it seems as though we have something going on almost every weekend until Macie arrives! Summer is coming to an end and fall is just around the corner. Time has already gone by so fast and will just fly by the rest of the time. Our next doctor's appointment is August 19th and Allie will have the glucose test and the Rh shot- lots of poking! 

pre-term contractions?

Ended up going in for an evaluation Monday, July 27th. Allie had cramping and achiness in the lower abdomen- we thought it was probably just growing pains, but they made us come in. Turns out it was pre term contractions. The good news is she wasn't dilated. For 48 hours she was directed to be on modified bed rest, IB profen every 6 hours, and up the water intake to 100 oz. a day. It seemed to work and we went back to the doctor for a recheck on Wednesday. As long as they don't come back Allie can resume to her normal routine. Lets hope they stay away!

Macie sure likes her presence to be known! ;)

anatomy pictures

23 weeks 4 days

Mommy & Macie Grace

The Power of Prayer

I want to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers. The power of prayer is wonderful and God is good! After 2 hours at the level 2 ultra sound we are more than ecstatic to report - there is no heart defect that he can see! It seems so surreal- I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He said sometimes on the other ultrasounds the blood colors bleed together making it look like there is a heart defect and that is why they send you to more intensive level 2 ultra sounds because you can see so much more and clearer.

Not only is there no heart defect, but he was able to rule out all other defects and now we do not have to worry about this little angel. Yes, there is a possibility of having VSD once she is born but the risk of her having it is the same as any other baby. The doctor even canceled the echo gram since he did not see anything that made him think there was a heart defect. Yay!!

Macie GRACE is 1 pound and 4 oz. She is perfect- and we also got to find out I am really 23 weeks and 2 days so my due date is moved up to November 18th. I cannot wait for our sweet angel to arrive in our arms, but for now she is an active little dancer and one heck of a strong girl!

We thank you again from the bottom of our hearts. It is the most wonderful feeling to have this support!

 

Love,

Allie, Jeremy, and Macie

Prayer Request for Macie

Well, today was our 22 week check up and we were having another ultrasound done. Last time they were not able to get good pictures of her heart and couldn't see her upper lip. Today we saw all four chambers of the heart and her cute little profile. However, she has a ventricular septal defect also known as VSD. 

Information provided by kidshealth.org

The heart has four chambers: The two lower pumping chambers of the heart are called the ventricles, and the two upper filling chambers are the atria.

In a typical healthy heart, blood that returns from the body to the right-sided filling chamber (right atrium) is low in oxygen. This blood passes to the right-sided pumping chamber (right ventricle), and then travels to the lungs to receive oxygen. The blood that has been enriched with oxygen returns to the left atrium, and then to the left ventricle. It's then pumped out to the body through the aorta, a large blood vessel that carries the blood to the smaller blood vessels in the body.

The right and left-sided pumping chambers (ventricles) are separated by shared wall, called the ventricular septum.

Kids with a VSD have an opening in this wall. As a result, when the heart beats, some of the blood in the left ventricle (which has been enriched by oxygen from the lungs) is able to flow through the hole in the septum into the right ventricle. In the right ventricle, this oxygen-rich blood mixes with the oxygen-poor blood and goes back to the lungs. The blood flowing through the hole creates an extra noise, which is known as a heart murmur. The heart murmur, can be heard when a doctor listens to the heart beat with a stethoscope.

Ventricular septal defects occur during fetal heart development and are present at birth. During the first weeks after conception, the heart develops from a large tube, dividing into sections that will eventually become the walls and chambers. If a problem occurs during this process, it can create a hole in the ventricular septum.

We are now going to have a level 2 ultra sound and we are hoping to get in by the weekend. Luckily the doctor says it is small and we should not worry too much, but how can you not?!?! It is scary, but it sounds like the worse case scenario is she would have a heart murmur, which since it is small she should still live an active, healthy life. Lets just pray for this little girl it is nothing worse. :( 

all registered!

Today we went to register with Allie's mom, Jeremy's mom, and Lindsay. It was a lot of fun for all of us but it was a lot of work and a lot of stuff to look at. It was also exciting for Allie to register with Lindsay. Before we know it, the little babies will be here! 

We picked out nursery bedding and decided on pink and green~ it's called Lady Bug Paisley and we are sure Macie will just love it! ;) Now we need to pick out some paint and get some color on the walls! 

Jeremy felt Macie move!

Last night after returning from Colorado Macie was moving around so much- Jeremy actually felt her move for the first time.....awww :)

Home, Sweet Home.......114 degrees!

Today we returned from our nice 8 day vacation through Colorado ~ what a heat shock to come home to 114 degrees! Colorado was a blast- on the way we stopped by the Four Corners! We started out in Dolores, CO at Roxanne and Mike's Cabin- we stayed one night even though, it was supposed to be 2 because we found out if you are pregnant you should be in high altitude.....an ER trip later- everything was actually fine so off to Durango we went. Durango is where the family cabin is, built by Jane and Flip, and we had a mini reunion. We had two run ins to BEARS! The first morning Rob spotted a Brown bear breaking into his cooler and making his way over to the bunk house, he got scared off but ended up returning for more the early the next morning.....scary! After white water river rafting, boating, hiking, shopping, golf, and lots of camp fire talk we went on to Pagosa Springs where Jeremy's aunt and unlce live. We had a fun two days! We ate dinner on the river, karaoked, and went to the Hot Springs! Our final destination was the Fire Side Casino in New Mexico on the way home to break up the trip. We had a blast!

Off to some cooler weather....

Tomorrow we leave for our 8 day vacation to Colorado. We will be spending the 4th of July at Jeremy's Aunt and Uncle's (Rox and Mike) cabin and then continue on our road trip to Durango where his Grandparent's cabin is located. Our last stop will be in Pagosa Springs where his Uncle Doug lives. We are looking forward to some family time and some cooler weather!! It should be a lot of fun! :) Happy 4th of July to everyone!

It's A.......

HEALTHY baby GIRL!!!!! Macie Grace Richards will be born on or around November 24th! It was such an amazing ultra sound and so neat how you can see every detail from the spine, to the brain, the four chambers of her heart, bones, toes.....so cute! We are so thrilled!!! Allie's mom was in the ultra sound with us and then we surprised Jeremy's parents at dinner. Everyone is estatic! Her middle name is Grace because all we have been through already for this little one... it is truly by the Grace of God we have this little blessing! 

Good bye Honda, Hello Jeep!

Well, we had to part with our Honda Civic Coupe in order to accommodate for our growing family. We have wanted a bigger car for some time especially with the dogs! We decided to look at some Dodges and Jeeps. Well, I think we found our match! We ended up getting a used Silver Jeep Commander. We are thrilled, but nervous about gas since Allie's Honda was so great. Hopefully it will all work out. We really needed this car before the baby came to be able to fit the stroller, car seat, etc. SAFELY.....that's our biggest priority- a car that is safe! 

P.S. One week exactly and counting until our big ultra sound- soooo excited!

Accomplished!

This week was busy! We turned the office into a guest room/office to make room for the baby! We now have the nursery empty and are ready to start working on that. Maybe while we are waiting this long two weeks for the big boy or girl ultra sound we can get the hutch and crib put together! Then we will know what our precious little one is and can start the painting and decorating. So exciting! The second trimester has brought so much more energy to get things done! :)

Doctor's Appointment

Today was my 16 week doctor's appointment, well I was really 15 weeks since they had to cancel and bump me up :) The doctor found our little baby's heartbeat right way and it was beating away! I found out that your immune system goes down when you are pregnant and have been fighting some sicknesses over the past week or so. Glad to know the baby is not sick, just me! So our big day is Wednesday, June 24th at 1:30! We will hopefully find out if the baby is a boy or girl if he or she will cooperate ;)  Stay tuned until then! 

Okay and the results are in....

My cousin Kristi is having a.....GIRL! So one little boy and one little girl in the family- how awesome is that? Now we can't wait to find out about our little one! Hopefully only 3 or 4 weeks to go! :)

We are having a.....

NEPHEW!!!! Yay! Lindsay's appointment went great and she knew right away it was a boy! We are thrilled for her and know she will make a great mommy. He is growing fast! 

This will be great because if we have a girl, we will have the best of both worlds and she can have an older boy cousin to look after her and if we have a boy they can be best friends. :)

Kidisms....

Soooo we are writing stories in my classroom and one student decided she was going to write a story about me and Jeremy- she was real cute and asked if she can use our "real names"
She was basically interviewing me and asked me if I remember the date of when I got married....Ha...then she went on to ask the day the baby is going to be born. She asked if I was having a boy or girl and I had to explain that I didn't know yet but she could guess for her story. THEN she asked well, what are you naming them? I told her things always change but right now we are thinking Tatum for a girl and Jaxon for a boy. Andres in my class stands up with a confused look on his face and says "Tatum?!? Like the road????!!" I bursted up laughing- kids have no sensors then another kid, Leonardo goes "Jaxon.....hmm....are you putting Michael in front?" And my whole class is like: "ya- Michael Jackson!" Oh my gosh- maybe we need to rethink names (just kidding) but kids are just so cute and I thought this would brighten your day because it sure brightened mine! I am sure going to miss them next year!
Here is how Zamantha's story turned out:
Once upon a time there was a girl named Allison. She got married on May 5th. She became a teacher, a very nice teacher. Then, 3 years passed and she had a baby in her stomach. She felt excited and very happy. One day Allison brought a picture of the baby to her class. A girl named Vianney, said "Awww!" A few months passed and it was November 22nd. The baby was born but Allison and Jeremy didn't know what to name the little cute baby. So she went to her mom. Allison's mom was Cindy. Allison told her mom that she couldn't name the baby. Then Allison's mom, Cindy, got a wonderful idea, she named the baby Jaxon. Allison loved the name so Allison and Jeremy and of course, Jaxon, lived happily ever after!

End of the 1st Trimester.....

Well, this weekend ends the first trimester! Yay! We will be entering the second trimester and look forward to finding out if this little one is a boy or a girl. We are also excited to find out if we will be having a nephew or a niece....Lindsay will be finding out this coming Thursday! We are stoked! :) We originally thought she was having a girl, but now Allie had a dream it was a boy! So we will see if dreams predict right! Also, Allie's cousin will be finding out the week after so there is a lot of excitement coming up. It will sure be interesting! How cute all three babies will be~could it be possible they are all the same sex??!?!
Our next doctor's appointment is June 3rd- we will be hearing the heart beat on the doppler and will have a check up. This will be our 16 week appointment so hopefully a couple weeks after this one we will have the Ultrasound to tell us BOY or GIRL :)
As the school year comes to an end, we have an exciting summer approaching. Allie will be teaching summer school and Jeremy will be helping out with the baseball program and will be doing projects around the house getting ready for the baby. We are also looking forward to our Colorado road trip! All the books say that the second trimester brings more energy so hopefully we will accomplish a lot before August. It is just so crazy how time flies! November seems so far away but we know it will sneak up fast. All these exciting events and baby showers will be coming up very soon!

Great Grandma's Surprise

This weekend was Allie's graduation from NAU with her master's degree in Multicultural Education. Her Grandma came out from Virginia so we thought it would be the perfect time to tell her she was going to be a Great Grandma!!! We made the sign above to hold up at the airport! The word surprise does not even sum it all up! See the video above! We were so excited to finally tell her and cannot wait for her to come back out in December to see the little one!
It was a great mother's day weekend in Flagstaff. We went up on Friday and on Saturday was the commencement ceremony. We had a BBQ afterward to celebrate! On Sunday, we went to Mother's Day lunch and then headed back home. It was beautiful up there. We want to thank everyone for making the trip up there as it was a truly amazing experience!

12 Weeks

Today was our 12 week doctor's appointment, even though I will not be 12 weeks until the weekend. The doctor listened to the heartbeat on the doppler and found it right away. She said it was very staticy due to the baby moving so much. We only caught the heartbeat for a couple of seconds so she wanted an ultra sound to get an accurate count of the heartbeat! I was nervous but of course excited because I wasn't expecting another ultra sound until 18 weeks. YAY! He/She is so cute! The heartbeat was beating at 170 beat per minute! How blessed we are! Our next appointment is June 3rd and then soon after that one we will know if the baby is a boy or a girl! Time is flying by!

Intelligender!

Well, through one of my pregnancy magazines I found a test called Intelligender. It is supposed to be a 90% accurate gender prediction test that you can take once you are 10 weeks pregnant. I took it this morning and the results show boy! Not betting on it or anything but it is fun entertainment! I guess we will find out for sure in about 8 weeks!

Second Doctor's Appointment

Well as we speak, Allie is 8 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Last, Friday we got to see our little peanut again and the heartbeat beating 158 bpm! Tatum Grace or Jaxon John is growing up fast and strong! Names are not set in stone just some thoughts so we don't have to say "it." :)
Everything looked great and we are excited for our next appointment on May 6th. We will actually HEAR the heartbeat on the dopple! YAY!
In the meantime, we are headed to Mexico for Jeremy's grandpa's 80th birthday. Allie is wrapping up her Spring semester and 12 credit hours at NAU. She will be graduating May 9th and feels very accomplished and grateful to be finished before the baby is born.
We count our blessings each day and are so excited for what life has in store for us!!

Let us know what you think! BOY OR GIRL?

We have a HEARTBEAT!

Thank you so much for all the positive vibes and prayers! We are so grateful to have such supportive friends and family. What a tough time and an emotional roller coaster this has been. After a couple of blood tests, Allie had another doctor's appointment yesterday to see if the levels got any higher over the weekend. After 3 hours at the doctor yesterday- we have a heart beat!!!! You won't even believe the story of us going in there and the doctor saying the levels stayed the same- only to find out the people didn't put the new blood levels in the folder! SERIOUSLY Allie's mom and her are sitting in the waiting room, figuring out when in the world I can even do the D&C because of Terra Nova testing and just waiting for the ultra sound to confirm there is no growth. FINALLY we are called back and she told the ultra sound tech- she wasn't going to cry- that she had cried all weekend and is through the emotional roller coaster! Allie's mom got up and took a closer look at the screen and The tech told Allie during the ultra sound "sorry, I am not trying to keep you in the dark just measuring." Then she said, "well, when did I see you last?" Allie told her Friday and that the sac measured 5 wk 3 days and she said well you are 6 weeks and there is a heart beat. She couldn't believe what she was hearing!!! She saw it for herself- 120 beats per minute!!!!! We still cannot even believe this happened....but the new blood work paper did not get put in my file yet since it was only yesterday and the levels did go from 10,000 to 20,000!!! Oh my GOSH! Thank you for your continued support and prayers- we are so grateful.
WE HAVE A THANKSGIVING BABY ON THE WAY! A lot to be thankful for :)

Prayer Request

We found out yesterday that Allie's hcG levels are not doubling like they are supposed to. Within 48 hours they only went from 8,000 to 10,000 so she went in for an ultra sound. The embroyo is measuring a week earlier than they calculated so they are worried, we are worried, and we just kind of have to wait until Tuesday to find out more information. Whatever the outcome is, prayers are appreciated.

Thank you for your continued support.
Allie & Jeremy

Tickle Me Elmo!

Well, a week has passed since we got our little blessing and good news. Not many symptoms which we are thankful for. Tired has brought on a whole new meaning! This coming week we will be entering week 6. We are so excited and are counting the days until April 10th. We have already read so many books over this Spring Break including a name book in one day! ;) It's funny how the names we've always liked really haven't changed. Thanks to Jackie and Brad, we got our first baby toy.....Tickle Me Elmo! Talk about a good time! Mocha and Maggie's first experience was so funny and it is all caught on video. See below :)

OUR BIG FAT POSITIVE!!

As most of you know, we have been trying to conceive a baby for a year now. In January, Jeremy went to get a semen analysis, which came back completely normal. A couple weeks later, Allie went to get an HSG which is the process in which blue dye is injected into your Fallopian tubes and is displayed on a screen for the doctor to see if anything is blocking in there. We were kind of excited because the rate of pregnancies after an HSG is performed is pretty high. We had our fingers crossed for a positive result in February, but did not have any luck.
Allie had an appointment set up for April 22nd where she would start a fertility drug called clomid.

February brought on new challenges as Jeremy was informed .5 of his contract was surplused. We looked at is as no wonder we are not pregnant yet- Jeremy may not even have a job! A week ago Monday, we attended the draft at the district office. After having a heartattack the first round of the draft and realizing you cannot pick up any positions on another level (i.e. Jeremy currently teaches at middle school so couldn't pick up any of the open P.E. positions first round because they were elementary)......the second round came and our first choice was gone(Desert Cove .5 in order to keep his .5 at Shea)- as we are sitting there in the hot room with everyone's tensions flaring and anxiety rolling- thinking I guess we are going to have to surplus his .5 at Shea and take a full time elementary....(of course we would be thankful for anything)- BUT then there was the rule if nothing matches your contract you can take from other positions and there was still a .8 remaining at Shadow Mountain (right next door to Shea within walking distance). Jeremy stood up and asked if he could have .5 of the .8 and after a LONG 3 minutes or so they said YES! This is the best senario and we couldn't be happier- we are still in disbelief and Jeremy is estatic to have the best of both worlds- keeping his Shea ties and being able to teach at the High School level.We truly believe everything happens for a reason and this experience has definitely let us see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, we decided to have a BBQ to celebrate! We invited our parents and some of our co-workers. When Allie got home she was exhausted but thought nothing of it because it was field day at school and being out in the sun all day is exhausting! She decided to test as always before taking a sip of a drink. To her surprise......it said positive! She could not believe her eyes! She took two more tests just to be sure! Apparently God had other plans for us and did not want Allie on Clomid!

Allie had just bought Lindsay (Jeremy's sister) an ASU onsie for a congratulations gift on her pregnancy which came in a two pack. She gave one to Lin now and kept the other one in her gift closet for later. Allie ran to the closet and put it in a gift bag and called Jeremy inside. She told him she bought him a congratulations gift for his new job. As Jeremy opened it he said "Shut Up!" With the biggest smile on his face and could not believe it. To prove it, Allie showed him the 3 tests she had taken to make sure. We were estatic!!

We debated what we were going to do about the BBQ. Most people wait until their first appointment to tell but yet we have waited SOOO long for this. Without any further thoughts we knew we had to tell, it was way too exciting and if something were to go wrong (God forbid) we would want all these people supporting us. That night we made a toast to Jeremy's new job and gave our mom's a gift for supporting us. Little did they know each gift bag had a positive pregnancy gift in it! They were in shock as everyone else! It was priceless.

It is still very early (5 weeks) into the pregnancy, but we are confident God has blessed us with this little maricle. Our first appointment is April 10th
(Good Friday :) ) and our Expected Due Date is November 18th. Allie is excited to be pregnant with her sister in law who is due at the end of October and her cousin who is due one week before her.